Word of Honor (60 page)

"Nevertheless, the Hanoi government states this is H6pital Mis6ricorde.

Or was."

"Commies lie. Everyone knows that."

Corva continued, "I wonder if a team of experts could tell by the bullet pocks on the concrete what sort of shooting took place there. I mean, I assume the shot groups or shot patterns of a massacre might look different from those of a firefight. "

Tyson didn't respond.

"Also the Hanoi government is excavating the groundfloor rubble, though I imagine the bodies must have been removed sometime after the Tet Offensive ended."

Tyson lit a cigarette.

Corva said, "Whatever was left there would have been used as ash fertilizer by the villagers. The vultures, beetles, and worms got the rest. Still, the concrete shell may reveal something, and this is the first possible physical evidence we've had to deal with."

"Should I be concerned?"

Corva thought a moment. "The Times story doesn't indicate that anyone in our government has accepted this invitation. "

Tyson observed, "This invitation comes from the same people who massacred two thousand men, women, and children of Hue on the other side of the city. Where the hell do they get their nerve? I'd like to take an international commission to the Strawberry Patch and show them where I found the mass graves."

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Corva said ironically, "That's not the way it works, Ben. American atrocities are more atrocious than communist atrocities. You know that."

Corva added, "Anyway, this mess is making our government unhappy." He sighed deeply. "Damn it. I always knew this thing would make us look bad.

Why do we always do this to ourselves?"

"Because," replied Tyson, "we do it better than anyone else could do it to us."

Corva shook his head absently. "Anyway, in answer to your question, it is my guess that the White House will tell the North Viets to take their kind invitation and shove it up their asses. Diplomatically."

"But the other countries will send people to Hue."

Corva rubbed his lower lip. "Yes, and they may discover something. But I've already informed the Justice Department that if they think they are going to introduce at an American court-martial any evidence gathered in a communist country by foreigners, they'd better be prepared for a ten-year legal battle, not to mention public outrage. I think they understood. We'll see. "

Tyson commented, "You place a lot of faith in American public opinion."

"You should too. There is not much we can do about negative world opinion.

But did you see that poll that indicated that an incredible seventy-eight percent of the American public thinks you are being made a scapegoat?"

"I missed that one."

"I have a clipping service that sends me anything with your name in it."

"Good. "

"You've become a focal point, Ben, for a lot of pent-up feelings here and abroad."

Tyson shrugged. "Not my fault. I'd as soon drop the whole thing."

Corva added, "Like the Dreyfus court-martial, this is perceived as a case that transcends Benjamin Tyson and the first platoon of Alpha Company."

"Is that so?"

Corva pulled a sheet of paper from his briefcase. "Enough of international diplomacy and the state of the Union. Let's

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move on to more important business. I had a pleasant chat with Major Harper last week. In my office."

Tyson said casually, "Did you?"

"Nice piece of goods, Ben."

"I hadn't noticed."

"Well, I did. Anyway, she's too tall for me."

"Actually you are too short for her. What did she want?"

"Oh, just wanted to brief me on a few items. The most significant of which is that the FBI has located Hernando Beltran, Lee Walker, and Louis Kalane."

Tyson said nothing.

Corva went on, "That was quick work. Of course they knew all along where these men were. But the Justice Department wanted to see if you were going to be charged before they told you that."

Tyson said, "I never really understood why they weren't found sooner."

"And the government never released the names of the men in your platoon because if they had, people who knew these men would have blown the whistle to the media."

Tyson nodded thoughtfully. "But you know, Karen Harper wanted me to make a public appeal for them to come forward. "

"Karen Harper was operating in a vacuum. For every hour she put in on the investigation, there were bureaucrats, JAG people, Justice Department lawyers, and FBI agents who were putting in hundreds of hours. She was the visible tip of an iceberg she didn't even know was attached to her. I think she knows that now. -Doesn't matter though. Point is, she was asked to contact Beltran, Walker, and Kalane by telephone. And she did."

Tyson stood and walked to the window. He stared out at the headlights of the traffic crossing the bridge.

Corva said, "Harper reports that she spoke to each of the three men briefly by phone. Beltran and Kalane put her in touch with their respective attorneys. Walker did not have a lawyer. He is a mechanic, someplace outside of Macon, Georgia. Anyway, the attorneys for Beltran and Kalane indicated that their clients would not make any statements unless they were subpoenaed. Beltran is a successful Miami

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businessman. Kalane is involved somehow in the tourist business in Honolulu.

Harper asked these two attorneys if their clients' prospective testimony would characterize them as witnesses for the defense or the prosecution."

Tyson lit a cigarette and continued to stare out the window.

Corva said, "Harper informs me that they are your witnesses. "

Tyson exhaled a stream of smoke.

"So," observed Corva, "it seems you engender some sort of loyalty in your troops, Lieutenant Tyson."

Tyson said, "They kept the faith, Vince."

"So they did. I'll tell you something though. If I had been the attorney for either of them, I would have advised them to jump on the government side."

Tyson turned from the window. "Why?"

"Well, they will never be charged with murder even if they get on a witness stand and give a blow-by-blow account of a massacre. On the other hand, if they tell the altered version of the hospital incident but you are convicted anyway, they may then be liable for charges of perjury. "

Tyson said, "I'm sure their attorneys advised them of. that. "

"I'm certain they did. Yet they want to stand up for you, Ben. I'm deeply touched. But not too deeply."

"Meaning?"

"Well, meaning that if this case had come to trial in 1968 or anytime before these men had been honorably discharged, then they would have been charged with the actual murder. Also, whether or not they are immune from prosecution, they are still not going to stand up in a public trial and admit to mass murder. I'd like to think they are going to stand up for you totally out of loyalty, but they have other motives as well."

"Perhaps, Vince. Perhaps. But it's not up to us to judge their motives. "

Corva stood. "Do you have any loyalty to them?"

"Meaning?"

"Would you protect their reputations on a witness stand?"

"I suppose I would. But I do feel ambivalent toward WORD OF HONOR 0 469

them. They did something for which I'm now left holding the charge sheet, as you pointed out."

"That's your fault, Ben. I can see why you didn't prefer charges immediately. But aftetward . . . when you were safely on that hospital ship and had time to think-what was that if not loyalty?"

"I suppose I felt loyal, The Army ingrains in you the concept of loyalty between an officer and his men. But when something like this happens, that loyalty can cause a miscarriage of justice.

"I know that."

Tyson went on, "When I was wounded, they all said good-bye. And they were truly sorry to see me go. A small thing, but it loomed large while I was lying on the hospital ship, a writing pad in my hand, wondering if I should write a love letter to my girlfriend or a memo to the battalion commander. "

"I understand. " Corva poured two more glasses of strega and handed one to Tyson. Corva said, "What I meant by my question about loyalty is this: If you are convicted, it is essential that you take the stand and offer true testimony in extenuation and mitigation before the board votes on a sentence. True testimony-as much as any war story can be true-would obviously be very damning toward Messrs. Sadowski, Scorello, Beltran, Walker, and Kalane. And it might leave them all open to perjury charges, which the Justice Department might well pursue in a federal court. And perjury is a very bad rap." He looked at Tyson.

"Why don't we cross that bridge when we come to it?" He put down his drink. "Tell me about Lee Walker."

"Oh, yes." Corva took a sheet of paper from the coffee table and perused it. He said, "Karen-Major Harper reports that Mr. Walker's initial statements to her led her to believe he was a witness for the defense."

Tyson nodded. Somehow he'd had no anxieties about Walker's testimony.

Corva continued, "Unlike when she questioned you, Sadowski, and Scorello, she was obligated to end the interview with Walker as soon as she determined that he was a witness for the defense, because you have now had charges preferred

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against you, and you have an attorney. So, Major Harper turned Mr. Walker over to me. I spoke to him by telephone. What do you remember about him?"

Tyson finished his drink and noticed the bottle was nearly empty. He put his glass down and lit another cigarette. "I don't know ... a simple man.

Honest. Kept out of trouble. Rural southern black. You know the type."

Corva said, "He was a little jumpy. Kept saying you didn't do anything wrong. "

"Put him on the stand."

Corva smiled. "Well, that is the question. Who of the five do we put on the stand?"

"All of them."

"No, I told you why we can't do that. It would sound like they were all reading from the same teleprompter. What I have to decide is not only who will do the best acting, but who will stand up under cross-examination.

That is very important. "

Tyson observed, "You haven't gone to see Sadowski or Scorello yet."

"No, I have not."

Tyson said with a touch of sarcasm, "I've heard of armchair detectives. Now I've met an armchair lawyer."

Corva looked at him awhile. "There is such a thing as overpreparing for a case. I've seen that."

Tyson laughed despite himself. "Okay, you're the lawyer. 11

"That's right," agreed Corva. "Anyway, in conclusion, Major Harper also advised me that neither Daniel Kelly nor Michael DeTonq has been located.

Nor has Sister Teresa."

Tyson nodded. The blinds rattled as a breeze blew in off the water. Tyson spoke musingly. "It's cooling off. It was a hot summer. Summers are sort of memory markers of the mind. I'll remember this summer for quite some time.

I recall the summer of 1966, before I reported for duty. I was out of college, and I took the entire summer off. It was one of those perfect times in one's life: no obligations, no pressures, a sense of accomplishment at having graduated, and the prospect of a new adventure in front of me. " He looked at Corva. "At times like these, it's normal to return to the past. But not particularly healthy, is it?"

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"It's all right. If there is a refuge -in the mind, Ben, hide out there awhile."

Tyson sat again and poured the remainder of the liqueur into his glass.

Corva shuffled through his papers. He said, "I was impressed with her." He looked at Tyson. "You were too. And she was impressed with you."

"Maybe if she gets out of the Army before my courtmartial, I'll fire you and hire her."

Corva finished his drink. "Well, she won't get out of the Army while this is going on. They want her where they can keep an eye on her."

Tyson went into the kitchen and came back with a bottle of port. "Real Portuguese stuff. Thirty-five bucks a bottle. Float a little of this on top of the strega. " He filled Corva's glass to the brim, then filled his own.

They both drank the port, then drank another. Corva mumbled somethirtg about having to drive. He suppressed a belch, then said, "Also, Harper would not take the job of defending you, Lieutenant-"

"Cut the Lieutenant shit."

"Because she believes you are guilty."

Tyson slumped into the armchair and poured himself another. "How about you?"

"I would not have taken this case if I did not totally believe you should not pay for what happened there. I was there, buddy, and I would not want to pay again."

"You didn't say you thought I was innocent."

Corva shook his head several times. "Of course I didn't say that. I think you are guilty. I only said you should not have to pay."

Tyson leaned forward and stared at Corva. "You said you would not want to pay again. Are you indictable? What did you do over there?"

Corva stood but did not move from his spot. He swayed slightly, and his eyes seemed to be focused on something a long way off. At length he said,

"Pretty much what you did, Ben. Looked the other way. Oh, it wasn't as grand as a massacre . . . but it was more than one incident."

"Tell me," prompted Tyson out of a perverse curiosity. "Picard told me. You tell me."

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"Fuck Picard. " Corva seemed to forget what it was he was going to say, then blurted, "My machine gunner mowed down three enemy soldiers who approached us under a white flag. I was sick for a week over that. Three kids who'd had enough and wanted to surrender. He cut them down like they were nothing ... nothing." He glanced at Tyson. "I had a sharpshooter, Ben, with one of those fancy hunting rifles and high-powered scopes . . . he used to like to check the rifle's aim by shooting peasants running through the fields to get to their villages before curfew. He said his watch was fast. Get it? His watch was fast. He did it three times before I put a stop to it. Another time, we approached a village bomb shelter where a few villagers had taken cover, and--